Evan Bouchard
The London Knights have added another player from their respective NHL team. Earlier the knights gained forward Alex Formenton from the Ottawa Senators. The team’s luck just keeps getting better as last years captain, Evan Bouchard will be joining the flourishing team to make their blue line squad even stronger.
Bouchard played 7 games with the Edmonton Oilers recording one goal and a minus 5 rating while averaging just over 12 minutes a game. By sending the superstar defenceman back to the OHL before the 10 game mark allows Edmonton to save a year on his entry level contract. Implications of the Seattle expansion draft may have had a play in this move as Bouchard would still be protected by the entry level contract.
In his 7 game stint with the Oilers Bouchard raised many eyebrows. The passing and shooting from the blue liner appeared to be as good as any Oiler defenceman. He also earned some time on the powerplay units which saw him score his first career goal on all-star goalie, Braden Holtby. Edmonton appears to have made a good choice at the 10th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. The future looks bright for the 18 year and could see him as a top 2 defenceman on the young blossoming team.
Last year with the London Knights Bouchard played 67 games as the leader where he scored 25 goals with 87 points. It appears that with 7 games of NHL experience and sky rocketed stats from last season that Bouchard will be among the elite talent in the CHL. London Knights back end is filled with stars that will make them a force to be reckoned with. Bouchard will be joining NHL draft picks in Adam Boqvist who was picked at the 8th spot by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018. Alec Regula and Jacob Golden are more NHL draft picks that patrol the Knights blue line.
Bouchard and Formenton are not expected to be in the lineup tonight when the Knights host the Flint Firebirds.
The Knights are sitting in third place in the Midwest with a 7-4-2 record. Sitting 4 points behind the 9-4-2 Guelph Storm.
